Nigel Brennan

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New York, June 12, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the arrest in Canada on Thursday of Ali Omar Ader, a Somali allegedly involved in the 2008 kidnapping of journalists Amanda Lindhout, Nigel Brennan, and Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi, a Somali fixer and photojournalist. Ali, who appeared briefly in court in Ottawa today, is alleged to be the main negotiator of the kidnappers and faces hostage-taking charges, according to a statement by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

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Top Developments• Al-Shabaab terrorizes media through violence, threats, censorship.• Many local journalists flee into exile, leaving a void in coverage.

Key Statistic9: Journalists killed in direct relation to their work in 2009.

Somalia was among the world’s deadliest countries in 2009, surpassing violent hot spots such as Iraq and Pakistan. As conflict continued between the weak Transitional Federal Government and multiple insurgent groups, nine journalists were killed in direct connection to their work, seven of them in the volatile capital, Mogadishu. An exodus of local journalists continued throughout the year, and few international journalists dared travel into the country for firsthand reporting, according to CPJ research. As a result, the amount and quality of news coverage of Somalia’s political and humanitarian crisis suffered greatly, CPJ found.

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We issued the following statement after confirming the release today of Canadian freelance reporter Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan, both held in Somalia since August 2008...

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Ahead of the first anniversary on Sunday, August 23, of the kidnapping in Mogadishu of Canadian Amanda Lindhout and Australian Nigel Brennan we issued the following statement today on behalf of the families of the two journalists...

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New York, June 11, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the Canadian and Australian governments
to work for the immediate release of two freelance journalists who have been
held captive in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, since August.

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New York, May 26, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists is very concerned about the well-being
of two captive journalists, a Canadian and an Australian, who
urged their respective governments to work harder for their release in a phone
call with a reporter on Sunday. Both journalists said they were sick and being
held in harsh conditions.

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Anarchic violence gripped a nation sadly accustomed to chaos and suffering as a weak federal government sought to fend off insurgencies in the south and central parts of the country. Two reporters were killed in the southern port city of Kismayo in 2008, continuing a national pattern of violence against the press that has claimed the lives of nine journalists in two years. At least 21 Somali reporters have gone into exile, according to CPJ data, although the National Union of Somali Journalists estimates that dozens more have fled their homes in fear of reprisals. The risks grew deeper still in 2008 with two kidnappings involving five journalists, three of whom were still being held for ransom in late year.

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New York, January 16,
2009--CPJ welcomes the release of a freelance Somali photojournalist and two
Somali drivers on Thursday but remains deeply concerned for the fate of two
foreign freelance reporters who have been held since their abduction on August 23, 2008, by
unknown gunmen.

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New York, November 26, 2008--The Committee to Protect
Journalistsis deeply concerned
about the safety of four journalists who were reported kidnapped today in the
port city of Bossasso in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

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Today marks the seventh day that four media workers have been held hostage by an unknown group roughly 12 miles (20 kilometers) west of Mogadishu. Freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout, Nigel Brennan, and Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi, along with driver Mahad Clise, were returning from interviews with Somali refugees at Celasha Biyaha when they were kidnapped along the Afgoye-Mogadishu road. The Australian Federal Police and Australia and Canadian diplomats are working with the Somali government to help with hostage release efforts.